Genuinely Scary Multiplayer Horror Games. Possible?

Welcome to our first edition of Rally Toad! Rally Toad will run weekly, most likely on tuesdays. If you have suggestions for the next Rally Toad, email me.

The consensus around multiplayer gaming and the survival horror genre seems to be fairly common: the two don’t go well together. Its not possible for a multiplayer horror video game to be scary, because bringing a friend along spoils the immersion.

Picture yourself walking through an unsettling corridor in one of the Dead Space games. The tension is building, you’re hearing strange sounds and its not clear where they’re coming from. Then your buddy speaks up and starts telling you about how he farted next to some broad at the office today. She was totally uptight about it and he thinks she might have known it was him. His chances of hooking up with her are basically ruined and OH GOD THERE’S A NECROMORPH BEHIND YOU and there goes your head.

I MAKE POOR LIFE CHOICES

Thats an awful example, but it illustrates the point of the majority. Friends ruin the experience of true survival horror terror. I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be that way.

Think back for a moment to when the first Dead Space game was released. It was a great achievement in survival horror. The atmosphere was brutal, and it really represented the “next generation” of horror games. Fast forward to today, and Dead Space 3 is still a great game, but it fails to innovate. It didn’t change people’s minds about the issue of multiplayer horror, and thats a shame. It seems like a good amount of people took the shortcomings of Dead Space 3 as definitive evidence that truly scary multiplayer horror is a dream, nothing more.

Its sort of surprising, but if I had to choose a game that I thought came the closest, I would go with Left 4 Dead. Some of the most fun moments I’ve ever had while playing video games were had playing Left 4 Dead. I’m sure if you’ve spent any considerable amount of time with Left 4 Dead, you’ll understand when I say that the first couple times encountering a tank with your friends represented some of the most memorable moments in a game that I’ve experienced.

Can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to bail Luke VanTrieste out of this situation right here.

This doesn’t single-handedly prove my point, because this was more of a thrilling terror, but hopefully you see what I’m getting at. If we’re capable of watching a movie in the same room as someone, enduring the occasional chatter and laughter, and still experiencing the fear that the filmmakers intended, it means that the idea that multiplayer horror games can’t be scary is a myth. I believe we’re getting there, and now is not the time to give up.

Weird Board Game of the Week

Clue, The Office Edition

Theres something a bit unsettling about turning a light-hearted television show into a game of Clue. The game obviously plays the same as any other Clue, but the murder victim is Toby. The weapon of choice can be anything from a rabid bat to Mr. A. Knife. My wife recently bought me the Big Bang Theory version of Clue. Naturally concerned, I quickly read the box and found that they went a less macabre route for this edition. Sheldon is trying to figure out who misplaced his DVDs and some kind of other shenanigans. I think if someone in the Big Bang Theory world were to be murdered, it would be Stuart.

Multiplayer Game I’m Currently Playing: GTA Online

I recently completed a mission with some random guy I had been paired with online through matchmaking. We got through the objective, and afterwards he spawned next to my newly purchased, bright green sports car (fresh off the lot). Naturally, the idiot jumps in and tries to drive away. I hop into the passenger seat and witness him driving like a real maniac, smashing up my new ride and acting a fool. I bide my time, wait for him to get out, and quickly run him down. And I feel GOOD about it, like REAL GOOD. Thats what happens when you steal my new ride without my permission, PRICK.

As a reminder, we are actively looking for volunteers to contribute to MultiToad. If you love games, writing (or streaming), and you want to be a part of this, send us your information and a sample of your work. Any applications should be sent to info@multitoad.com.

About The Author

John is a full-time web developer who writes and streams for multitoad.com. He started Multitoad with Luke "Yogzula" VanTrieste. John loves multiplayer gaming, his wife (known around the site as Queenie), his dog (Marble), horror movies, and sitting down with a nice craft beer. If you want to contact the author of this post, feel free to do so on the community forums.

I’m going to pick up damned and play it. Cry of Fear is a free to play co-op survival horror game on steam that was both fun and hilarious with a few genuinely scary moments. I’d do a playthrough and record it but these types of games aren’t quite the same the second time through. Maybe I’ll do it someday anyway.

Yeah, I can understand that and it does sort of hold the same true in this game.

However, to answer your question there is no AI you can activate or anything its always another player. The last time I did play the game it was a little unbalanced after learning lots of tricks and mechanics of the game. Always playing with friends kept it pretty fresh because whomever the monsters was, didn’t just slaughter everyone senselessly, they systematically separated everyone and made them shit themselves right as they died.